Vegan Smoked Almond Cheddar from This Cheese is Nuts! + A Giveaway!

This vegan smoked almond cheddar from This Cheese is Nuts! by Julie Piatt leans on incredibly simply methods (i.e., soak, blend, serve) and just five total ingredients. It’s smoky, tangy, and packed with zesty cheddar flavor. Slather this almond cheddar cheese over crackers or baguette slices, dip sweet pear slices into it, or layer it with crisp veggies in a flavor-packed vegan sandwich.

If you know me, then you know how true the following statement is: Just a few years ago, I was convinced I could NEVER go vegan because of my undying love for cheese. I simply couldn’t imagine life without stretchy, melty dairy cheese.

No pizza? No epic cheese platters? No eggplant parmigiana? No mozzarella?

Just the thought of parting ways with the gooey stuff was enough to give me the jitters. That was until the day I realized that cheese wasn’t doing me, my body, the planet, or the animals any favors.

Since bidding dairy cheese adieu, I’ve come to learn that the ‘dairy’ part was really all I was saying goodbye to. The stretchy, melty, gooey, spreadable, sliceable deliciousness? Well, those latter bits were all still completely and totally possible thanks to some tasty store-bought alternatives.

And while store-bought alternatives are wonderful and wildly convenient, I’ve longed for the day when some patient and brilliant recipe-creating soul would launch something like this into the universe…

Something that says, Vegans and cheese-lovers, unite! You can have your cheese in any shape, color, ripeness, and size. And you know what? You can feel good, too.

Well, today’s the day when vegans can thank their lucky stars and bust out all those lavish cheese knives and serving boards they’ve been hoarding since their wedding showers, because Julie Piatt’s latest book, This Cheese is Nuts! is brimming with recipes for allll the vegan cheeses under the sun.

I’m telling you, if you can name a cheese, Julie’s probably got a plant-powered alternative for it in this book. As I’ve spent time flipping through the pages these last few weeks, I’ve been in awe of her creative brilliance.

Whether you’re looking for a collection of recipes that runs the full gamut of vegan cheese possibilities—from blend-and-ready spreads to finely aged fancy cheeses—or you’re just starting out on your nutty cheese-making journey, this book has your back.

Here are just a few (okay, a heaping handful) of the recipes—some cheese and some dishes—I’ve jotted down on my must-make list:

If that list doesn’t have you both drooling and convinced that this book is a must-have vegan staple, I’m not sure anything will. Except for maybe the full recipe for Julie’s Smoked Almond Cheddar…

This is hands down the easiest vegan cheese to make.

To make it, you’ll simply soak 2 cups of raw almonds in water overnight.

Then, drain the almonds and add them to a food processor along with pimientos (i.e., peeled roasted red peppers), nutritional yeast, smoke salt, and garlic powder. Blend until desired texture is reached, and serve. That’s it. Doesn’t get any easier, does it?

Scroll down for the full recipe and enter for a chance to win a copy of This Cheese is Nuts!

And if you simply can’t wait or take any chances on a giveaway, then grab your very own copy here.

4.2 from 5 votes

Print

Vegan Smoked Almond Cheddar Spread

This vegan smoked almond cheddar from This Cheese is Nuts! by Julie Piatt leans on incredibly simply methods (i.e., soak, blend, serve) and just five total ingredients. It's smoky, tangy, and packed with zesty cheddar flavor. Slather this almond cheddar cheese over crackers or baguette slices, dip sweet pear slices into it, or layer it with crisp veggies in a flavor-packed vegan sandwich.

Course Appetizer, Cheese

Cuisine Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, plant-based, Vegan

Prep Time10minutes

Servings3cups

AuthorJulie Piatt | This Cheese is Nuts!

Ingredients

2cupsraw almonds

½ to ¾ cuppimientos from a jar, plus ½ to ¾ cup packing liquid*

¼cupnutritional yeast

1 ¾teaspoonssmoked sea salt

1teaspoongarlic powder

Instructions

Easy Pre-Prep

Rinse the almonds well. Place them in water in a medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

For the Smoked Almond Cheddar

Drain the almonds. In the bowl of a food processor, place the almonds, pimientos, nutritional yeast, salt, garlic powder, and ¼ cup pimiento liquid. Process until the mixture is well incorporated.

Remove the lid and test the cheese for texture and salt content. If you want a smoother spread, add pimiento liquid in small increments and process again. Add more salt if needed.

Serve this with crackers and fresh pears.

Recipe Notes

*Pimientos are peeled roasted red peppers, so if you have trouble finding them, simply peel jarred roasted red peppers and discards the skins.

This Cheese is Nuts! Giveaway

One winner will receive a copy of This Cheese is Nuts! by Julie Piatt. For a chance to win, simply enter the giveaway using the Rafflecopter widget below andcomment on this post between June 19th and July 3rd. Please note: this giveaway is only open to residents of the US and Canada.

Reader Interactions

Comments

I really ike to try new vegan cheese recipe, as I highly prefer the home-made one than thoses we can buy at the grocery. This cheese looks amaaaaaaaazing and I can’t wait to try it (and all the other cheeses of the book) to eat as a light meal in those hot-hot days in my apartment!

I cannot wait to try this recipe! I love vegan cheese and have amazed several friends by how realistic my vegan “nacho” cheese is. So far I’ve only made spreadable cheeses but if I win this giveaway I would love to try a hard nut cheese!!

I have been lactose intolerant since i was little! But I ate cheese because my mom refused to believe I had a problem. I loved it but when I hit high school, I could not handle it. It has been hard to find alternative cheeses especially where I live a rural desert. I have tried nut chess and have fallen in love but the are not available where I live :(. I would love to try the recipes on this book!!

Wow! The photo with all the cheeses! The one with the green going through it..ash, whatever it is..amazing to be able to create legit cheese like this using nuts…can not WAIT to make some of these…I’m sold! thx for the chance to win!

I would love to win a copy of this book! I’ve been looking forever for doable vegan cheeses and this looks like such a great book. I’m really hoping for a homemade cream cheese that is fairly realistic. I’ve had trouble finding a recipe and my store doesn’t carry any decent vegan alternatives.

I would love to win this to help transition my boyfriend from dairy cheese! He loves fancy/speciality cheeses, so I think this would be great :) I assume from the title that all the cheeses use a nut base. Is this the case?

This all looks fantastic! I have such a hard time not being able to eat dairy when everyone in my house loves it. This looks delicious and the recipes listed sound fantastic too! It would be great to own a copy of this!

Wow, I’m drooling!! I want to make all of those cheeses, starting with smoked gouda. It was my favorite cheese since childhood, and somehow I didn’t mind giving it up because the thought of dairy just really turns me off. But if I could make a vegan alternative that tastes like smoked gouda, oh my. Still drooling, need to get my hands on this book asap.

Yes please! Having read and heard nothing but RAVE reviews of Julie’s masterpiece, I would be absolutely over the moon if I were to win a copy of my own. You see, as someone who is all for making as much as possible of your food yourself, I feel that this book would come in very very handy and would probably open up quite a few new doors for me. Further, seeing as I live with two extremely convinced meat, egg, and dairy consumers, what I’d love to be able to do is *wow” them with a homemade, delicious, HEALTHY, cruelty-free, whole food plant-based cheese alternative. Also, the one cheese I would want a truly awesome, whole food alternative for, would definitely have to be grateable parmesan. Finally, thanks ever so much for this giveaway, Ashley, and for sharing this delicious recipe with us :)

I’m a vegetarian who loves cheese but hates how it is produced. If I could find enough comparable vegan recipes, I would eliminate all cheese. I haven’t found one yet, but I would love a recipe for vegan asiago.

This looks delicious! I have not tried nutritional yeast before and I imagine I can find it at Sprouts somewhere. I am thinking for the upcoming summer holidays, this would be perfect. Thank you for posting and for the giveaway.

I’ve been drooling over all of Julie’s sneak peeks into the book and MUST get my hands on a copy!!! I’m most excited about a feta replacement – I know some have made it with tofu, but I haven’t tried. So delicious!

I don’t really miss dairy cheeses, but the thought of having bleu cheese or burrata again is making me very happy. I had written those off as flavors and textures I would not eat again because they seemed impossible to recreate with nondairy items. I am so excited to try all of these recipes!

I’d love to win this book. I have been wanting to try vegan cheese recipes but don’t know where to begin. A good ricotta recipe would be awesome. As for my favorite vegan cheese, I think it’d have to be treeline’s hard cheeses. Really great on crackers and mixed into sauces.

This recipe looks so easy to make! I’ve been put off by some of the vegan cheese recipes that have 25 steps or a bunch of arcane ingredients. I’d love to find a vegan version of brie or of goat cheese.

I’ve been vegan for seven years (whoa!) and I my 20-month old toddler loves Daiya cheese. In fact, it’s one of his favourite foods. He doesn’t like soft spreadable cheese (nor hummus), so I need recipes for hard cheese. Please let me know the percentage of recipes are for hard cheese in this book. What’s their complexity?

I’ve made cheese using recipes from “The Homemade Vegan Pantry” by Miyoko Schneider, which my boyfriend couldn’t believe were homemade and dairy-free. I loved them too. If you’re familiar with that cookbook, can you please tell me how “This Cheese is Nuts!” compares?

I’m also curious if the author of “This Cheese is Nuts!” address calcium issues and has any ideas how to ‘sneak’ calcium into vegan cheese. Thx.

Like you – the only thing holding me back is my love of cheese. I’d love to get my hands on this book because I think it would show me how easy it will be to replace my beloved cheese,, and that will give me that final push to make the commitment.

I had an opportunity to borrow an ebook edition of this cookbook, and there were too many recipes to try in the two-week checkout time period. I’ve been wanting to buy this ever since. Of all the cheeses, I think brie might be up there!

We’re doing Whole30 right now and I am so missing the cheese — so when I saw this book cross my Instagram feed, I started googling like mad. The recipe you’re sharing here has my mouth water! I neeeeeed! ;) Thanks for the giveaway!

I am now one week and two days into my new whole-food / plant based eating lifestyle. I love how I feel and have more energy now to exercise properly for even better health. However, I miss cheese!!!!! I am so excited by the alternative options I’ve read about and am especially interested in looking at all the recipes in “This Cheese is Nuts”. My husband, father-in-law, brother and sisters are anxious to dive into some of these recipes and get busy getting healthier! Thank you for your blog and this opportunity. BTW…..your soup recipes are phenomenal!

I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but I tried this recipe last night… and it was awful. Purely and totally awful. I followed the directions to the letter. Am I missing something here!?!? I was SUPER excited about this book but now I’m not so sure. Is this an acquired taste?

Hi, Kim! So sorry to hear that you didn’t enjoy this recipe. It’s supposed to be more of a cheddar spread rather than a firm cheese, so the texture leans toward lighter/flakier than many nut cheeses. Was it a texture or flavor issue for you? I personally find it to be delicious, but could see it catching me off guard had I been expecting a firmer, smoother cheddar cheese. I haven’t had a chance to make other recipes from this book yet but am planning to in the coming weeks and would be happy to report back!

Also, assuming you did because you said you followed the directions to a letter, but just to double-check: you did use smoked sea salt as opposed to regular sea salt, correct? A swap there would make an enormous difference and would completely alter the flavor, which is why it’s worth double-checking!